Life is Hard
by Peace Ocean
Summary: Life was hard. Not just for him, but for others too. But, he didn't exactly care about others. He was the one who lost his mom, who's dad turned abusive, who was bullied inscesantly...And strangely, as time went on, he found he didn't care about things he used to enjoy. Like animals...friends...or hurting people's feelings. He stopped caring.
1. Perfect

**Girls: *in a different room* No, get away, you savage beasts! *sound of running feet* *rush into room and slam door shut, lock it**both sigh in relief***

**Prin: *sighs* Yup, a new story. **

**Iris: *smiles* A great new story!**

**Prin: A depressing one! **

**Iris: well, yeah, but it's a new story…**

**Prin: Hhmph…Um, this is about Zach! Yup, you read right, Zach, except he's a kid and all that….**

**Iris: *groans* you would make a horrible salesperson. *turns to audience* Hope you enjoy!**

With a few more finishing touches, it was complete. The Doberman's eyes glowed red as he stood erect, without twitching a muscle. Zach smiled.

"Yes," he celebrated quietly, picking up a remote. He grinned as he set the dog to his aggressive state, and the dog correspondingly growled at the bed. Flip another switch, and the dog was playful. Another switch, and he was begging.

"I did it!" the thirteen year old grinned. He played with his new "toy", trying to ignore the gap his mother had left a month ago.

Sure, Liana was distant, and hardly ever spent any time with her son at all, but he had loved her. She had always been gentle with him, never yelling, and seemed to have an unending pool of patience when it came to Zach. Maybe because she was so nice to him that was why it hurt so much when she had to ignore him.

"Sweetie, I need to work on my fashion line, or I'll go out of business. Go play with your pets, okay?"

Always that. The company, the fashion line, the job, everything seemed to get in the way of their time with him.

Until about four months ago.

Liana was expecting. Zach wasn't sure what had happened, but one night his mom had gone to bed with a stomach ache, and the next he was dragged to the hospital to see her.

There he overheard words like, "placenta previa" and "high-blood pressure", but he refused to look up the meanings. He refused to think that there was anything wrong with his mom.

A week or so later, she was sent back home, but she was going to be bedridden for the rest of the pregnancy. Zach was elated. Finally, she was going to be home with him!

At first, she slept on and off throughout the day, too weak to do much, but after a few weeks she called him in. The maid had set up a custom made bed-desk and Liana had all sorts of papers pinned on there. She smiled as he came up, pulled him on the bed next to her and planted a kiss on his head. They spent the rest of the day there, Liana finally catching up on her son's life, and Zach finally being able to bask in undivided attention. They spent the next four months like that, Zach running off on errands for her, and coming home from school, only to run to his mom's room and (if he hadn't been pushed into a mud puddle on the way to school, or back home) plop down on the bed next to her to tell her all about his day, about how Christine Kratt in his class had called him a mean, ugly animal abuser, how that cute girl had completely ignored him when he had talked to her, how Martin would have walked by Zach being picked on by the school bully if it hadn't been for Susan Kratt pointing him out, how Howard had taken almost all his books and poured black ink on them, but Zach wasn't worried, they had money to spare, but it still felt bad.

Liana would listen patiently, and gently console him. Christine probably didn't know the whole story; maybe the cute girl wasn't the right person to socialize with, Martin probably was preoccupied and didn't notice until she mentioned it, and no, there was no need to worry about the books, she'd have them all replaced by tomorrow and she'd have a talk with Howard's mom tomorrow, and now get in the shower, and make sure to wash your hair.

* * *

Then suddenly, it happened. He woke up early and ran to his mom's room, certain that his dad was already working at the company. He opened the door, and nearly stopped breathing. Blood had soaked the sheets next to his mom's legs, and she was pale…too pale. He ran to the phone, and quickly dialed for the doctor.

A couple hours later, he was called into the room his mom was in at the hospital. She was laying on the blankets, paler than he had ever seen anyone in his life. It didn't help that she was fair skinned in the first place.

"M-mom?"

She had smiled at him weakly, reaching out to him. He quickly grabbed her hand and kneel-ed on the floor next to the bed.

"Did they tell you, honey?"

"Tell me what, Ma?"

"That...Well...I'm not gonna last much longer."

It took a moment for the meaning of what she said to sink in.

"What? No, mom you'll be perfectly fine!"

She shook her head, "Just promise me you won't blame her…"

There was an odd bubbling sound she made every time she took a breath, and the weakness in her voice contrasted violently with her alert face. Zach bit his lip as tears began to fall.

"Who's her?"

"Your sister, Hannah…"

Her gray eyes glazed over slightly, and Zach brushed back a strand of her bright red hair.

"Mom?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I…I love you."

"I love you too. Tell Hannah I love her too…"

He nodded, barely able to keep from bursting into sobs right then and there. She smiled at him, before closing her eyes, squeezing his hand affectionately.

"I just...I'm going to rest for a while," she whispered, as if trying to convince herself, a certain kind of fear crossing her features for a moment.

He couldn't stay there anymore. He barely noticed as he ran past his father, who was rushing into Liana's room, tears slowly making their way down both of their faces.

* * *

About an hour later, Zach found himself in front of the nursery. Several nurses were scurrying around, changing diapers and caring for the babies that were crying. Zach lent against the glass, wondering which one was Hannah. What did she look like? Was she going to be a fussy baby like he had been, or a calmer one? Was she going to be smart, or thickheaded?

A nurse stopped behind him.

"Looking for a relative?"

"My sister," he murmured, the areas under his eyes feeling heavy and sticky from his crying.

"What's your name?"

"Zach Varmitech."

"Varmitech? I'm sorry about your mother," he patted the black haired boy's head, before heading into the nursery.

It was all Zach could do to not burst into tears.

Suddenly, the nurse stood in front of him, on the other side of the glass. He smiled gently at Zach and bent down to be more at Zach's level.

Zach was left breathless.

The nurse held a small, no, tiny baby in his arms, who seemed to have an elongated head and a wrinkled forehead. The baby slowly opened her eyes, and somehow, despite the fact that all she could see were shadowy figures, managed to lock her gray-blue eyes with Zach's pastel green ones.

All Zach could think as tears threatened to spill over again and his small mouth slowly turned upwards for the first time in forever was,_She's perfect._

**So….review? Please? You'll get a virtual bowl of tuna meal! *waves bowls in front of readers* And if you don't like tuna meal- *runs off, comes back with a handful of fluffy reddish-yellow baby chicks* They just hatched today! Aren't they adorable! Who wants one? You can get a virtual one IF you review!**


	2. Hit

**Iris: Well, this wasn't what I wanted to post…**

**Prin: Hey! We wrote a chapter!**

**Iris: And this is the first second chapter we post ever!**

**Prin: Yeah, so YAY! *dances***

**Iris: Ahem…**

**Prin: What? Oh Right!**

**Iris: Waterfall13, we dedicate this chapter to you, we're sorry it's like a really depressing chapter, but, this is for you!**

**Prin: Enjoy! *showers Waterfall13 with gifts***

* * *

He had felt like crumpling the birth certificate and burning it. He read the name again.

Liana Rose Varmitech.

That was not Hannah's name.

"Mom named her Hannah."

"She's named in honor of her mother."

Zach had had to put the paper down to keep from destroying it.

"But Mom-"

"But mom, nothing. That is your sister's name, period," Joshua, his father, picked up the certificate, placing it gently into a file Zach hadn't noticed before, his face devoid of any emotion, "Go to your room."

So he had, stomping up the stairs. Zach had finished the mind control for his dog, and was currently playing with the dog in his playful mode, all thoughts of Hannah's new name pushed away.

A servant knocked on his door.

"Come in!" he smiled at the dog as the Doberman gently tackled him to the ground.

"Zach, dinner is served."

"Bring it up here then."

"Your father wants you at the table."

"Well tell him I want to eat up here!"

The servant left, and came back after a few minutes.

"I'm sorry, but your father insists that you sit at the table with him."

Zach groaned, and set the dog to a "heel" mode, slowly getting up and walking down the stairs, the dog close behind him.

"About time you got here," his father was sitting at the head of the table, pouring over a newspaper. Zach could see tired bags under his eyes, and lines beginning to form on his father's formerly smooth face. A few gray hairs had grown into his jet black hair, and his blue eyes seemed hollow. Empty.

That scared him. Zach had never seen eyes without emotion. While he wasn't the most sensitive of people, he had always seen some emotion in people's eyes. Never the empty, dead looking eyes his father currently had. It brought back the memory of his mother, full force.

After her death, the only consolation Zach had found was in making his inventions and holding the quiet baby that was his sister.

Hannah had been the calmest baby Zach had ever seen. She'd lie on her back for hours, and somehow manage to always lock eyes with the person looking at her, with such a wise expression on her face that it made one think, that if only they stared a little longer, they'd unlock the secret.

"Sit."

Zach jumped as his father cut through his thoughts, and he sat at his place at the table, the dog loyally sitting next to him.

Joshua looked up, and Zach made eye contact for a moment, and almost smiled at him. The anger in his father's eyes stopped him.

"D-dad?"

"What is that…_creature_ doing at the table?"

Zach didn't like that. Not so much what his dad had said, but how he had said it. Like the dog was a filthy, wild rat.

"H-he's with me."

Joshua didn't answer, merely stood up and grabbed the dog by the scruff of his neck, and yanked him.

"Dad! What are you doing? Leave him alone!" Zach stood up and grabbed his father's arm firmly.

Suddenly, he found himself on the floor, with an odd sensation on his face, similar to the time he had banged his head against the wall to test a new helmet he had been given. It didn't hurt; it was like having put his head on the vibrating washing machine. He gasped as a shock wave of pain suddenly coursed through his face, and tears fought their way out of his eyes. As suddenly as he had been hit, he found himself lifted up, fingers digging into his jaw.

"Don't you ever defy me, do you hear!" His father had grabbed him and was gripping Zach's face unrelentingly, but not hard enough to leave bruises.

Zach wanted to scream, as he realized that his father had hit him. Indescribable anger coursed through his thin body and he trembled, fighting the urge to kick his father and hit him with all his might. He wished he could, that he was strong enough to do things like that, that he wasn't so small and easily pushed around. But…his father brought their faces closer, and Zach for a moment looked into his father's eyes. He nearly broke into sobs. This wasn't the man he had known. This was a stranger, with rage, pain and grief controlling every move he made.

"I don't hear an answer."

Zach tried to nod, but that earned him another slap across the face. His father pushed him down to the floor, gripping his shirt.

"I don't hear you."

The moment Zach opened his mouth, sobs came out. "O..ok-kay."

His father let him go, and grabbed the dog again, dragging him out. Zach curled up on the floor, sobbing.

What had he done? Why did his dad react like that? He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? He could distantly hear his father telling someone to "put him to sleep", but it didn't register. Only a sound that he could remember as his mind went blank, not willing to think for him.

His father stormed in.

"Get up! And stop crying."

Zach slowly pulled himself off of the floor, his face heated from being hit. He turned to go to his room.

"Where are you going?"

"T-to m-my ro-om."

"Sit at the table. Finish your food."

Zach was about to argue back, but remembering what had happened…

He sat at the table, wanting more than anything to be in his room, to hide his shame at bursting into tears.

* * *

**Prin: Wow, I'm mean…O.o**

**Iris: Yes you are…:P**

**Prin: Hey! X(**

**Iris: Anyway, did you like the chapter?**

**Prin: Please tell us in the review! XD**

**Iris: Hint, hint…**


	3. Should I?

**Haha, well, a filler chapter I guess. This could either be unimportant, or important to the story. You chose. Water, I hope you enjoy this! ^^ Some interaction between Zach and sis.**

**And you were the only one who thought of the grief as the reason Zach's dad was acting like such a jerk! ^^ I hate to antagonize anyone completely, so thanks for giving me a reason for Zach's dad to be a jerk! XD**

**Enjoy!**

Zach had mixed feelings about going to science camp. Science camp meant getting away from his dad, whom had not spoken to him since the "incident", but it also meant he was going to be far away from Ha-Liana…his sister.

Zach sat next to his sister's pink cradle, peering in. She, as always, had locked eyes with him.

"I don't know what to do," he said, as he began to finger the braces that covered his teeth. His damned cousins had always had perfectly straight teeth, why couldn't he? He pushed down on the braces, causing a build up of pressure on his top row of teeth.

"I hope you don't have to wear these when you get older. I don't want to go to science camp! It's just going to be filled with more bullies and kids that don't care…"

The baby merely followed his eyes as they moved, a serious look on her tiny face. He sighed, and gently stroked the tiny tuft of red hair on her small head.

"But, I liked science camp…sometimes there's actually someone who knows a lot of science, real science…not that junk they feed us at school."

She yawned, and blinked.

"Tired? I think the nanny is even more tired than you," he picked up a bottle and offered it to her, rubbing the nipple gently against the baby's tiny, moist red lips. She stuck her tongue out, keeping the rubber nipple from going into her mouth. He chuckled.

"I guess you're full, huh?"

She whined softly, and Zach picked her up, careful to hold her head and keep her delicate neck from flopping around. He brushed a finger against one of her hands and she grasped it, locking eyes with him again.

"I should go, right?"

She blinked.

"I mean, Mom did sign me up for it right?" his eyes watered slightly when he mentioned his mom.

The baby sighed.

"So, I'll go!"

She closed her eyes.

"Yeah…"

A yawn. He placed her back in her cradle, hesitating slightly before planting a kiss on her soft forehead.

"See you when I get back. But, don't do anything important until then, okay?"

She fell asleep.

"Okay."

He quietly walked out of the room, turning the night-light on. He glared at the sleeping nanny, who hadn't gotten up when Hannah-wait, Liana was crying.

He practically crawled to his room, glancing at the clock before dropping into bed.

4:45

He fell asleep.

**Poor Zach! XD Having to take care of his sister at 4 in the morning!**

**Now…see that button down there? Do us the tremendous favor of clicking it and writing something in? **


	4. New people

**Prin: Hi guys, how's it going!**

**Iris: Sis, stick to the program.**

**Prin: Oh, shush, you. Anyway, an update! **

**Iris: Hannah/Liana isn't in this one, I'm afraid. It's basically just Zach's first day at science camp. Also, forgive us for any spelling mistakes, we lost the Word program we had.**

**Prin: and all of our dictionaries were taken to the new house, which we are moving to, **_**slowly...**_

**Iris: And we have terrible spelling skills. -.- Anyway, like IJ used to say-**

**Prin: On with the story! X)**

Zach started chewing on his fingernails, bored with the long drive to the science camp. He couldn't read or draw out new ideas for his next inventions because just looking at paper in a car made him nauseous, and board games didn't work too well in a car.

A few hours later, Zach had chewed down so far, one of his fingernails started to bleed, just as the car stopped. The driver turned it off, and climbed out.

Zach stuck his finger into his mouth, moving his tongue gently over the small cut to sooth it as he looked out at the camp. It was nothing special, just a few small houses next to the road remodeled to house several children and keep them off the road.

The city was only twenty minutes away, and there were several science institutions there, making the location somewhat ideal for field trips and such.

Behind the houses, all of which were painted a bright shade of blue, was a rather large field, upon which several white canopies had been set up for the competitions and experiments that required for them to be outside. At the end of the road was a larger building, the teacher's residence.

The car stopped in front of this building, and the driver stepped out. Zach, pulling his finger out of his mouth, jumped out of the car.

An hour later, he stared at the bunk-bed, frowning. Well, it wasn't his full size bed, but it was a bed. A group of boys, ranging from 8 to 12 years old, burst in the room, chattering about math quizzes and potato clocks. He smirked, remembering having made one of those when he was four.

_Beginners_, he thought to himself confidently

Suddenly a girl with two large brown buns on either side of her head and angry olive green eyes ran in, "Which one of you took my wires?"

The boys quieted, and shook their heads, wide eyed. Except a bright eyed twelve year old with honey brown curls, who quickly dove under a bed. The girl spotted him, and stomped over, "Give me my wires, Bo!"

The boy laughed, "No way, Aviva!"

She glared at him, before grabbing his leg and pulling him out, "I need those wires!"

Zach smiled, amused, before turning and walking out to leave the two to work out their dilemma. He soon found himself heading towards the white canopies, treading softly over sunburned grass. Reaching one, he peered in, and immediately found it way under his level, and moved on. Suddenly, he found himself bowled over by a force he couldn't see, and banged the side of his face against the ground, "OW! Hey, watch it!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he opened his eyes to find that girl from before. Her buns bobbed up and down as she quickly pulled him up and dusted him off, before running in the direction of another canopy. He grumbled lightly, holding his throbbing cheek. A bruise that had been there (courtesy of Howard) had finally started to heal, but now he was sure it would show up again.

He sighed, and thoughtlessly noted the canopy the girl had gone to, as he continued walking around, familiarizing himself with the area.

After a few minutes, he found himself in the canopy the girl had gone to, and he glanced around. The tables were covered with pots, planting pots, and packages of seeds had fallen on the floor. He spotted a bucket of potatoes on the floor, and that girl again, searching through them. He walked over.

"Whatcha doing?"

She didn't look up, "Making a potato clock, what about you?"

"Nursing a sore cheek," he smiled half-heartedly.

She looked up now, "Oh, it's you. Sorry about that. So when'd you get here?"

"Today."

"I got here the day before yesterday! And then I met Bo, and I think he likes me, which is why he keeps pestering," she grimaced lightly, "I'm 11, how old are you?"

He blinked at the rapid pace that the girl talked, "Um, thirteen."

"What's your name? I'm Aviva."

"Zach."

"You don't talk much."

He shrugged, "I can talk plenty when I want to."

Aviva grinned, revealing braces across her own teeth, "So, Zach, wanna make a potato clock with me?"

He chuckled, "Nah, already did that 9 years ago."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really?"

"Yup."

"I don't believe you," she crossed her arms stubornly.

"Well you should. I can even make mind control helmets, out of kitchen appliances," he boasted, grinning even wider as his competetive side was proded awake. She harumphed.

"Well, I have a prototype teleporter, and when I grow up, I'll be the first person to make a time machine," she paused, and her dark brown hands reached out for a potato as Zach frowned suspicously.

"You can't have made a teleporter already."

"I have!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah! I just can't teleport anything very big..."

"How small?"

"Two cubic millimeters of mass..."

"That's small..."

"Yeah, but I can get it from my room to the kitchen!" Aviva crossed her arms, glaring at him. He chuckled.

"I bet you can't make a potato clock, and that's why you don't want to," she smirked suddenly, "And you haven't really made mind control helmets!"

"I have and can! In fact, I'll make a clock with something that'll work even better than a potato clock!"

"Alright, but _no electricity_."

"Please, that'd be cheating!" he rolled his eyes at her.

Aviva punched him lightly, "Exactly. So what are you making it out of?"

Zach blinked, "Erm..."

He quickly looked around the canopy, coming up with nothing but...moldy, rotting bread.

"Moldy bread," he answered without thinking. The young girl deadpanned, "Moldy...bread? To beat a potato clock?"

He felt like digging himself a hole and burying himself in there.

"Erm, sure? I mean," he searched around his memory for anything to help him out, his pride not allowing him to back down, "Doesn't decomposing stuff take breaking molecules apart? And doesn't that create energy? It should be collectable, right?"

Aviva blinked, and shook her head, before turning and walking off. He frowned at her, before turning himself, and mouthing with amazement, "_She made a teleporter?"_

**Prin: Yay, Aviva's in! And so is Bo...Why on earth did we name that boy Bo?**

**Iris: Beats me, n-**

**Prin: What boy name could be cut down to that?**

**Iris: Boone? A-**

**Prin: Sounds cowboy-ish.**

**Iris: -.- Grr, sis, let me talk!**

**Prin: Huh? Sure...**

**Iris: *rolls eyes* Anyway hope you enjoyed, now, review, maybe? ^^ **


	5. Fence

**YES! We finally came back to this! ^^ Sorry the chapter is so short though. :/ 991 words. *bangs head against the desk* What happened to us? We used to update with medium sized chapters, not tiny bite-sized ones! DX Anyway, read and enjoy!**

Zach sighed, slumping in defeat as his moldy bread clock finally petered out. Aviva grinned impishly, her braces flashing in the sunlight that was filtering through the canopy above their heads, as she placed her elbows on the table and propped her chin up.

"Better than a potato clock, huh?"

It was now that he noticed that she had an accent. A rather prominent one at that. How hadn't he noticed that before? He glared at her question.

"I just didn't have enough time," he argued back. The brown skinned girl laughed.

"Ay, mira este! Que no tenia tiempo," she shook her head, "You stalled for two days!"

"The potato clock has been around for ages, little miss smarty-pants! I only came up with the moldy bread clock a few days ago," he crossed his arms, glaring at her. She shrugged.

"If it's as simple as you made it out to be, you should have had it nailed by now. Admit it, you failed. I've failed plenty," she backed up and straightened her wrinkled, sleeve-less mauve shirt, which drew Zach's attention to the rest of her. _I wonder how I miss these sort of things._

She was rather long legged, which was accentuated by the white shorts she wore, and despite being two years younger, she was almost taller him. Today, her wavy hair had been pulled back into a short, loose braid that was beginning to unravel, and her skin seemed to have darkened already from her almost constantly being out in the sun.

Despite Zach having stayed inside as much as he possibly could, he had already gotten a fierce sunburn on his face and arms.

"Rome wasn't built in a day," he huffed and, after unceremoniously dumping the offending moldy bread into a nearby box, he turned and stomped off. Aviva blinked at his sudden leave, then muttered to herself, "Que muchacho tan raro."

Almost as soon as Zach left the canopy, Bo rushed up to him, grabbing his arm excitedly. Zach hissed lightly as Bo's soft but brusque hands rubbed over his burn.

"Hey, Zach, I heard the most rad thing ever!"

"Oh, really?"

Zach had been pulled into an odd sort of friendship with the spirited young boy, albeit a bit reluctantly on Zach's part. Bo was rather wild and reckless, and had broken five bones in his short lifetime. Or at least, that's how many he said he had broken. Zach had found the young boy prone to exaggerate quite often.

"Come, I'll _show_ you," Bo's brown-blue-green eyes sparkled dangerously, sending a twinge of fear through Zach's back.

"Sh-show?"

"Yeah, y'know what they say!" Bo began to pull Zach down towards the road, "'Show, don't tell.'"

"Ow-hey!"

The black haired boy gritted his teeth as the small hands rubbed into his burn, mentally noting to pull out the bottle of ointment he had in his pocket as soon as Bo let go. Bo stopped at the black metal fence, letting go of Zach and with a jump, grabbed the horizontal bar. He pulled himself up and swung his leg over the spikes, grinning at Zach.

"Come on!"

"Up there?!" Zach let his mouth drop open.

"Of course. Duh!" Bo swung his other leg over and jumped down, landing on the black road. Zach sighed resignedly, knowing that trying to convince Bo otherwise was pointless.

"Here, I'll give you a boost," Bo stuck his hands through the pencil-thin iron bars, and cupped them to form a small step for Zach. The older boy sighed, before grabbing onto a spike with either hand and stepping onto Bo's hands. The smaller boy gave him a sudden upwards shove and Zach yelped as he moved up. He quickly grabbed the horizontal bar and swung his leg over as best he could, earning himself a couple more scratches. After that he just sat on the horizontal bar between the two spikes, staring dizzily at the road below.

"C'mon, jump already!"

"It's too high up!" Zach wanted to lean forward and hug the bar he was on, but because of the spear like spikes, he merely held onto the spike in front of him.

"Is not!" Bo blew a raspberry at the older boy, "You're just a chicken!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

If there was one thing that motivated Zach, it was a challenge. It wasn't so much of a "I want to challenge myself to be my best" thing, it was more of a "I need to be better than anyone else,"gig, implanted into him since his toddler years, starting when his dad found him playing with a tool set a friend had given him.

Zach had picked up the heavy tools and figured out exactly how to work each one and where to use them. That happened to be on the refrigerator, which had gotten Joshua in a bit of a huff, until Liana sat them down to talk it over, Joshua eventually telling the young boy with pride, "Son, you're the smartest little guy I know. Keep being so."

That simple sentence had sent the young boy scrambling to be the absolute best for his parents, the smartest, the cleanest- anything he found that they liked.

Eventually it grew into one of his main characteristics, his need to conquer everything and be the "absolute best" spreading out further than just his parents, or just his family. It grew to having to impress the world.

"Chicken!"

"I'll show you," Zach mumbled, gripping the fence as he threw his leg over, and letting go as gravity pulled him down. He landed perfectly, although he felt a painful twinge travel up his leg.

"Great, let's go!" Bo ran off, without a second glance behind him

Zach groaned. He just climbed over that impossible fence, and Bo wanted more?

"You've got to be kidding me," he started after the younger boy, noticing his sunburned arms again, "Maybe I should wear long sleeves..."

**Hehe, yeah, we felt a need to touch base with Zach's adult personality...even put in about the long sleeves! XD**

**And, Aw! Isn't Aviva cute? XD Anywho, we must be going, but please, PLEASE leave us a review!**

***the same stage as in...uh..._Eyes of Darkness! _^^***

**Prin: *pushes Gourmand out on stage***

**Gourmand: Now listen here, lil' gurl, if you don't stop-*gets shoved into the pedestal...podunium...uh! That thingie where they put papers and whatnot! Someone help me!* -.- Now listen here! I have to get to the Rare Animals Food asosiaction! I hav-**

**Iris: *pops in, sorting through a stack of papers* An award waiting?**

**Gourmand: Yeah, an-Wait, how-**

**Iris: It's always an award, swe-*looks at him* Uh...dude? Guy? *Shrugs* Here, please read these, and we will leave you alone.**

**Gourmand: *mumbles* Fine! But you'd better pay me.**

**Prin:*wipes sweat off her forehead* Absolutely, big dude. *runs off stage***

**Iris: *follows***

**Aviva: *offstage* Gourmand? Really?**

**IP: SH!**

**Gourmand: *looks at the papers* Uh.."And that is the end of chapter 5, no, 4, no-" -.- Who wrote this?**

**IP: JUST READ.**

**Gourmand: Fine. *lifelessly* "Where is Bo taking Zach. What awaits them there, will Zach's sunburn turn into more than just a simple sunburn, why is he so gray, why does he like black, why didn't he grieve over his mother more, don't worry we'll answer that in the next chap" chappie? O.o**

**Prin: *indignant* YOU JUST SKIMMED OVER IT! **

**Iris: Uh-oh. AVIVA! GET HIM OFF STAGE BEFORE SIS-*apears onstage holding fuming sister back* ATTACKS HIM OR WORSE! O.O**

**Prin: LEMME AT 'IM! *tries to scratch him* *savage, unhealthy looks comes over her face***

**Aviva: *runs onstage and drags Gourmand out***

**Prin: *breaks free and chases them* AVIVA, YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!**

**Iris: DX *chases sister off stage* SIS!**

**Chris and Martin: *walk on stage staring at the tornado going on behind them* o.o O_o **

**Chris: Uh, sorry about that!**

**Martin: Just leave a review in the box, and Prin'll be cured of her rabies. X)**

**Chris: o.o You shouldn't have said that.**

**Martin: O.o Why?**

**Chris: *points to redfaced, furious Prin behind Martin***

**Martin: O.O *runs***


	6. New friends

**Prin: HI!**

**Iris: Hi, guys, new update, whoo! XD Anyway, we updated the first two chapters with a few spelling corrections and grammar changes, and stuff, but it's hardly noticable, so-**

**Prin: NEW CHAPTER! I love Bo! He's too cute! ^^**

**Iris: O_o ...Right. Anyway, Read-**

**Prin: REFLECTREVIEW! **

**Iris: *facepalm***

* * *

Bo ran down the street singing to himself. Zach began to think he had forgotten him. Maybe he could go back to camp-

"Zach!"

Never mind.

"What?"

"Hurry up, you're lagging behind! Slowpoke."

Zach groaned and ran to catch up, ducking behind the smaller boy as a car zoomed by.

"Not a word, Boy of Steel."

"Boy of what?"

Zach rolled his eyes, "Forget it. Are we there yet? We've been walking forever!"

"We've walked for only about ten to twenty minutes, _if_ that much!"

"Whatever, where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to meet the lady that raised a cougar!"

Zach stared at him blankly.

"Puma?"

"Uh..."

"Catamount?"

Zach blinked.

"Mountain lion?"

Zach snapped his fingers, "Oh, that! ….Wait, she _raised it?"_

"I know, right? It's so cooner!"

"Coon-...What does a raccoon have to do with anything?"

Bo gave an afflicted sigh, "You're _so _out of the loop."

Zach gave him a wide eyed stare, "What loop?"

Bo completely deadpanned, "You know what? We're here."

He turned onto a run down dirt road branching off the main road. It hardly looked like a road at all, with the plants and trees hanging over it and shading the path, making it look small. Zach stopped at the edge of the blacktop, staring in.

"I don't know Bo..."

"Don't worry, she's my great aunt!"

"That actually doesn't help much..."

Bo rolled his eyes and ran back, grabbing Zach's arm and pulling him in. Zach had a sudden urge to grab the boy's fifties hairdo and give it a hard yank, but he held himself back, groaning instead.

After a few minutes of silent traveling down the dirt road, Zach froze up, his hairs standing on end. He grabbed Bo's arm.

"Did you say mountain lion?"

"Absotively, posilutely," Bo gave him a cheeky grin. Zach pointed upwards to a thick oak branch hanging over the road. The blond looked up, his eyes widening in amazement.

"She said she killed it!"

Zach simply panicked and ran, not wanting to become the mountain lion's next meal, almost crashing into a run down wooden fence.

"Hey, March!"

An old creaky screen door opened, and Zach charged over the fence, rushing inside and hiding under the nearest couch.

Bo ran up to the gate, "Your cat's still alive! I mean, the big one!"

A tall woman, up in her age, walked out, staring at the hiding Zach.

"Is that how you greet a lady, Boone?"

"Oh, sorry," Bo bowed and extended a hand to her, "Milady, it pleases me to see thou again."

March laughed, "Good, but not so formal next time. Hello young gentleman, it's very good to see you again. I see you've brought a friend, huh?"

"Yeah, that's Zach. He's a bit of a wimp, but he's cool."

"Hey!" Zach poked his head out from under the couch, glaring at Bo. Bo just laughed.

"Anyway, March, the big cat is out there! On the oak!"

Fear suddenly lit up March's gray eyes, "Inside, now."

"What? But I want to see the-"

"Obey me, now."

Bo, staring at her oddly, walked inside, and jumped onto the couch, accidentally squishing Zach underneath. Zach glared at him and pinched his leg, yelping when something touched his own leg.

"_AH! CREEPY THING!"_ he jumped out from underneath the old sagging couch, and hugged Bo with all he had, _"IT TRIED TO EAT ME!"_

Bo just stared at him for a moment, then pushed him off, and poked his head under the couch.

"It's just Fluffy, kid!"

"_WHO'S FLUFFY?!"_

Bo sat back up, giving Zach a flat glare and lifting a fat white cat out from under the couch.

"It tried to eat you? Seriously, you watch too many horror movies. And that's coming from the world's biggest horror fan!"

Zach stared at the cat, until he noticed March pulling a rifle down from over the door.

"_AH! SERIAL KILLER!"_ he ducked under the couch again.

March laughed, "Sonny, your fear's going to kill you if you keep that up!"

"_SEE! SHE'S THREATENING ME!"_ Zach curled up under the couch while Bo face palmed and bounced on the couch, just to spite Zach.

"She's gonna shoot the mountain lion!"

"Why? I thought she_ raised _it?" Zach poked his head out from under the couch.

"It nearly killed her husband one day," Bo poked his head out the window as Zach stared at him in horror.

"And you...brought me here?" he asked, his voice soft with apprehension. Maybe Bo wasn't exactly the best company to keep...

"It's supposed to be dead!" Bo argued back before jumping on the couch, squishing Zach repeatedly until he crawled out. He glared at the younger boy.

"I have no idea what's-" he was cut off by the sound of a gun shot ringing out. He turned slowly to stare at the old lady who hollered a the large mountain lion and shot into the air again until it went away. An annoyed calm seemed to come over him and he turned to Bo.

"Can we go back?"

"Already? N-"

"Actually, dear, I think it might be best," March opened the door and motioned them out. Zach all too willingly complied, followed by a pouting Bo.

"But, March!" Bo put Fluffy down on the wooden porch floor, and crossed his arms as she escorted them down the dirt path.

Zach ran down the path, never having been happier to see concrete as just then. He almost had the notion of getting down on his knees and kissing it, but as a car sped by, he thought better of it.

"Goodbye children. Let's hope next time I see you, we can actually enjoy it," March smiled at them kindly, but, frankly, it scared Zach more than anything. Plus that mountain lion still lurked somewhere.

"Bye March, see ya later!" Bo pushed Zach along the blacktop, "We have to get back before they find us missing!"

Zach took off, elbowing Bo slightly, "Why?"

"Um...Because they like, expel you or something like that," Bo shrugged. They walked in silence the entire way back, climbing over the fence again and began to head their separate ways.

"Hey, wimp!"

Zach's head automatically turned to look for the call, used to being called by such names, but was surprised to find that he wasn't the one being called out. Bo was.

A tall, gangly looking teen sauntered up to the blond, who rolled his eyes and turned away, only to be pulled back by the back of his shirt.

"Whoa, hey, dude! Totally not radical!" Bo squirmed and tried to run off.

The older boy scoffed, easily grabbing his arm and pinning him to his side, "So? You have an over due date with that dumpster."

Zach turned away, wanting to get away before it happened to him too, but...his hand slipped into his pocket and pulled out a TV remote, his thumb hovering over the OK button for a few seconds.

_It's only going to work once..._

I know.

_What about us next time?_

He sighed. He didn't know. He pressed the button.

A small metal ball, hidden under his bunk rolled out, pulling out a cigarette lighter with _Varmitech _engraved on the side and used it to hover as it flipped it open, lighting the small flame.

_Just hurry before I change my mind..._

* * *

**Prin: Well, Zach is helping!**

**Iris: For a change...Anyway, tell us what you think in the review, ****_Adios!_**

**Prin: ****_Nos vemos!_**


	7. Depression and Bullies

**Prin: *throws self on bed and moans* Ay, I'm depressed after writing this...Sis, why are we so angsty? ):**

**Iris: *sighs* Dunno...Anyway, read, review...enjoy? Uh, how does it go again?**

* * *

When Zach finally saw the little flying ball, the older teen had Bo sitting on the edge of the dumpster, poking him to slowly push him in.

"Stop it, over grown baby!"

"Hah! Do you like it? Huh?" he poked the smaller boy again, causing him to gasp and scramble to get a better grasp on the edge of the dumpster.

"I swear, I'm like a bully magnet. What is wrong with you guys anyway? Mommy and Daddy beat you every night before you go to bed? Or do you even have a mom and dad?" Bo stuck his tongue out at the furious older boy.

"Shut up! My parents have nothing to do with me wanting to get rid of some garbage!"

"Oh, now I'm garbage? Hah, I haven't ever met you before, how do you even know if I'm garbage? You're garbage for being prejudiced against blonds!"

"Okay, that's it!" The older boy pulled Bo down from the dumpster by the front of his shirt, raising a fist to punch him.

Bo scrunched his eyes shut and waited...and waited...after a few seconds he opened his eyes to find the boy completely frozen, his eyes glowing bright red.

"O-okay...Haha, very funny...Hey, guy, stop it! You're freaking me out!"

He dropped Bo, his fist stiffly moving to his own face, punching it lightly. Then again, much more forcefully. Bo stared open mouthed.

Zach walked out from behind the building the dumpster was set against, a stone expression on his face. With out a word, he tossed the remote to him.

"If you're wondering, that's the only human mind control device in the world."

Bo stared at him for a second, then, experimentally pushed a button on the remote. The bully promptly dropped to his knees, banging his head on the ground.

"Whoa, wait, stop that!" he pushed another button, and the bully pulled started pulling his hair out, "Kid! How do you stop this?!"

"Uh...You don't?" Zach took the remote and set the bully to punching himself again, laughing at him, "Look at him. He's so...stupid, really."

Bo blinked, and turned slowly to look at Zach, a sort of sadness coming over him.

"So..you're a bully too, huh?"

Zach jerked to look at him, his mouth wide, "M-me? A bully? _No. _I am the one that _gets _bullied, why..."

He glared at Bo, who just grinned slightly, "Okay, good. Thanks for saving me, I was pretty much dead meat there!"

Zach turned to look at the bully, still reeling at being compared to such...inferior people. After a second, a half smile fought its way onto his face.

"Well, you still are," He shoved Bo into a nearby pile of soggy wet cardboard boxes, laughing playfully. As Bo shook his head in disbelief, scoffing as he stood up and brushed himself off, Zach wondered if the two of them _could _be friends.

"That was for dragging me over to be a mountain lion's dinner."

"I did not! He's suppose-"

"And this is for wasting my only defense against the bullies in my school!" Zach pushed him back into the pile, and this time Bo pouted playfully, crossing his arms.

"Aw, c'mon dude! No fair!"

"Yes fair!"

"No fair!"

"Yes fair!"

The weeks seemed to fly by, and Zach and Aviva found themselves competing against each other more and more often, them being some of the most stellar inventors there.

He loved to annoy her, and found that she had a similar love of animals and nature, though not quite as strong, nor as inquisitive as the Kratt brothers, which caused him to dislike her quite a bit.

She thought he was annoying, was mostly stupid, and an animal hater and so pitted herself against him with all her might, while he found that no matter how hard he tried, she always seemed to be able to top him in absolutely _everything, _which annoyed him to no end. No, it actually angered him to no end, adding to his dislike of her.

He and Bo made a few more trips to March's place, and he sort of found a way to enjoy the time, even though he was in a place so vastly different than his home it seemed he had been transported to a Third World country. He was surprised anyone could live so poor.

March tended to tell stories that both bored him half to death and got him interested in the hero's struggles. It was such an irritating combination that he went and outright told her that she needed to liven up the story, because he _needed_ to know what happened next without falling asleep in the middle of it.

Today, the camp director, or what ever he was called, gave them each a set of Legos, and the instruction sheets for each, telling them that this lesson was to teach them how to work on something that required...

Something hit him over the head and he jerked up, eyes wide. He blinked, and understood that he must have dozed off in the middle of the teacher's discourse. Aviva sat across from him, shaking her head.

"Well, _Zach, _you're not making much competition today."

He stuck his tongue out at her, "Just you watch...What are we doing?"

She laughed at him, kicking him under the table, "Building with Legos? Never done that before, rich kid?"

He looked at the blocks, recognizing the boat that they wanted him to build. Hah! He could build a robot out of the same blocks ten times better. He stuck his tongue out at her again.

"Of course I have," he set to work on his robot, and for a good half hour, the two were quiet, absorbed in getting their work done. As he reached out for another block, Aviva grabbed his hand. His heart jumped into his throat as his first thought was that some animal had grabbed him and was about to tear his hand off, since Aviva was digging her nails into his hand, but he let out a sigh of relief when he was it was her...Then sucked it back in at the murderous look in her eye.

"I can't believe you're taking my blocks to make me lose! I knew you cheated, but that's just low!"

"I-I what?"

"You heard me, Zach Varmitech."

He looked at his robot, frowning when he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. He yanked his hand out of her grasp with a scoff.

"Oh, like I would need to do that," he rubbed his sore hand, "Besides, how do you know that you haven't, uh, you know...lost them under the table?"

"I saw you blatantly take my pieces!" she glared at him, crossing her arms.

"Well, I didn't do it!"

"You did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"_Did not!"_ without warning, he reached across the table and smashed her boat. She jumped back with a gasp, looking from it to him. He stared at his hands as they held the parts of the boat, feeling surprisingly empty. He wasn't sure if...or what...he wasn't sure why he had done that, but he felt a little better for a split second, like he had _finally _gotten the upper hand over Aviva.

"_You bully!" _Aviva suddenly jumped over the table, pouncing on him with a shrill scream and hitting him, trying to hurt him in any way possible. With a yelp, he tried to scramble away from her as the rest of the kids stared in shock. The teacher ran over, pulling Aviva off of him.

"What's going on here?!" Aviva stopped fighting him and stared at him doe-eyed.

"She..She just jumped over the table and attacked me because I was getting ahead!" the lie slipped out so easily...he wondered how many times he had lied, to make himself so comfortable doing it.

"I did not! I mean...I did jump over the table and attack him, but he broke my boat-!"

"That's enough! Both of you are confined to your cabins for the rest of the week."

They both stared at him, gaping, "But-!"

"No. We do not tolerate fighting and arguments here."

Zach gritted his teeth in anger, grabbing his robot and tossing it across the table, "Fine...fine..."

That night, he couldn't sleep. Of course, he never really could sleep in the cabins very well, with the sounds of other people sleeping and snoring and farting...he couldn't wait to get home to his bed and his room and the sounds of maids scurrying around instead of the sounds of...the cabin.

But tonight was different. He felt an incredible weight on his chest, and as he curled up into a ball, he had to take shallow breaths, afraid that he'd burst out crying if he didn't. He wasn't sure why.

After the incident with Aviva, he had felt depressed, and he hadn't a clue why as he walked into his cabin, and laid down on his bunk, glad that it was empty for once. Slowly the feeling had grown until now, it was hard to bear. He just felt so low, so useless and stupid.

Maybe that's why his parents had never been home. They couldn't stand to be around their failure of a child.

A single hot tear slipped down his cheek and he curled up tighter, holding his breath.

He missed Liana. He missed his mom. He missed...he...he wasn't sure what he missed, but he longed for something that he didn't know.

Another tear slipped down his cheek as his mother came to mind. He had hardly cried at the funeral, having slipped into a state of subdued acceptance, ignoring the extreme feelings of abandonment and grief that had threatened to pull him under. But now, they came back full force, and he didn't have it in him to fight. He just couldn't, and he wasn't sure why.

He began to sob, quietly at first, then uncontrollably, the sobs shaking his thin frame as he desperately pulled the pillow over his face to quiet them.

"_Sshhh," _gentle hands pulled him up to a sitting position, pulling him to her, _"It's okay, Zach, it's okay."_

He grasped her desperately, just wanting to stop crying. Suddenly, he realized who she was.

"M..mom?"

"_Shush, hon, you'll wake your sister up."_

He looked up, wanting to see her, but she faded from his view, "Mom? Mommy? _Mom! _No! No! Come back!...please..."

He turned, collapsing on the bed, sobbing. He had lost her again.

Suddenly, he felt himself wake up with a sharp throbbing on the back of his head. He jerked up, to find himself on the floor of the cabin, next to his bunk. Bright daylight streamed in the windows, and he sunk back onto the floor, tears slowly streaming down his face.

"What's wrong, son?" he jumped and turned to find his father standing at the door. He gaped and tried to form a coherent sentence. His father smiled and walked over, helping him to his feet.

"I got a call about you attacking a girl."

Zach scowled, wishing his dad would pay more attention to matters concerning him, "She attacked me!"

"Ah...Why are you crying? It's unseemly for a man."

He looked to the floor, another wave of emotions overcoming him. He grit his teeth against the tears that threatened to spill. His father gently lifted his chin, his own blue eyes welling with sadness, and pulled Zach into a strong embrace.

"_I know son...I miss her too..." _the whispered words echoed in Zach's mind and he cried again, but softly this time...

His eyes slowly opened to find the underside of the bunk on top of his. For a moment, he felt dizzy at the sudden change of position...Then he realized it had all been a dream. Everything. He turned to his side, tired of crying. What good did it do him?

None.

* * *

**Prin: )': Like I said, I'm depressed...I can't even think of a fun thing to do to lighten the mood...**

**Iris: *rolls eyes* Oh, you'll be fine in a few moments..'kay, guys, you know the drill, leave us a review! ^^ Thanks for reading.**


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